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Saturday, 10 January 2015

Crochet Hot Water Bottle Cover

I love my latest make - simple and colourful:

I've had a cover-less hot water bottle hanging around my craft room for a while, waiting to be ensconced in something warm and cosy! I had been given it in a cover I didn't like some time ago - so I got rid of the cover with the plan of making something new.As with a lot of these plans, time passed... but eventually I got round to it!I've always like the way navy makes other colours pop, as in my african flower cushion, and when I saw Sew Sweet Violet's beautiful rainbow scarf, I knew I had to make something in a similar style.This is a small hot water bottle - not the standard size - which meant less work (yay!). I used yarn from my stash, and gorgeous funky buttons my sister-in-law and brother had given me for my birthday, so this cost nothing - just what we like!

I made up the pattern as I went along, but I'll try to explain my method in case you'd like to give it a go.This is less a pattern, and more general guidelines that you can use for whatever size hot water bottle you have.

Crochet a chain or chainless foundation that fits around your bottle.

Alternate rows of dc (UK tr) in navy and rainbow colours until you reach the point where your hot water bottle starts to curve in at the neck.

On the row when the bottle starts to curve, reduce stitches at equal positions on each side. What worked for my bottle was to dc (UK tr) 2 st together 6 times on each side, making sure there were equal stitches between these reducing stitches.

On the next row, I then dc (UK tr) 2 st together twice on each side (in the middle of the previous row's decreases) to continue the shaping.

You will need to use your judgement to decrease until the curve evens out, then keeping going without increasing/decreasing until the hot water bottle starts to flare out again. Then increase by dc (UK tr) twice into the same stitch a couple of times in each side.

Decrease when the bottle gets smaller, increase when it gets bigger (stating the obvious!)

Always make sure the middle of your increases and decreases are at the same spots, as these will be on the sides of your hot water bottle. Make sure the number of stitches between each cluster of increases/decreases is the same, as these will be the front/back of your hot water bottle.

Make your final row of stripes a navy row, and then add an additional row of navy by dc (UK tr) twice into every stitch to give a bit of flare and frill at the top.

To make the flap at the bottom dc (UK tr) a row of stitches in navy to the bottom of your cover, but only on one side, using half the stitches that make up the round.

dc (UK tr) another row of navy.

To make the button holes, use the first rainbow colour you used and sc (UK dc) in every stitch except where you would like a button hole. For a button hole space ch an appropriate number to be big enough to go over your button (it was 4 for me) and skip that number of stitches before you continue to sc (UK dc). Space your sc and chains evenly so that your button holes are evenly spaced.

Finish off with a row of hdc (htr) in the same colour. Stitch into the sc of the row before, or into the chain space with the same number of stitches as chains.

Sew your buttons on in the right place, fasten the flap with the buttons, and your hot water bottle cover is complete!

A bit of warm brightness on a cold day!

Let me know if you have any questions on how to make this. It's a tricky one to explain as it depends on the bottle you're working with. It's actually very simple to make once you give it a go.

Ohhh you are right, the navy bands make the colours pop. Even though I crept your progress on Instagram, the final piece looks lovely! And those buttons are spot on. I really like the tailored neck and how you put the hot water bottle in through the bottom - too many covers make you mash the bottle through an opening in the middle. You're clearly a lot more high-brow than that.

I have a sad hot water bottle story for you - my mom got me a hot water bottle years ago that's black and in the shape of a cat. Last month when I had the plague, in a state of delirium, I filled my cat-bottle with scalding water straight from the kettle. Within seconds it burst. I was so distressed and sick, I didn't know what to do. I loved that silly hot water bottle :'(

Hi Emily. It was DK wool - The colours were Stylecraft Special DK and the navy was an old DK I had, not sure what it was.It's usually best to use the hook size for the yarn - usually a 4mm hook for DK. However, I used a 5mm hook as I have quite a tight tension. I hope this helps!